Dough-dividing machine.



J. M. BIERER.

DOUGH DIVIDING MACHINE.

APILlUAlION Pull-:1) JAN. 21, 10101 mg 9 5 v Patented June 2, 19M.

3. M. BIER-ER.

DOUGH DIVIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1910 lnvenior;

J. M. EIERBRX DOUGH DIVIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.21,1910.

'ji 5f 5, u Patented June 2, 1914.

3 $HEETS-SHBET 3.

"tical section of the same, 7 heingon line 2-2 on Fig. i. Fig}. o

JOHN lit. BIER'EItt, ()lE' FRONT LHQYAL, VIRGINIA, AfiSlIGIhTOltt, MEGNE ASSIGNMENES,

TU THE A. .h. "iiiTjtRTDIlVllACI-IINERY G0,, it CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

DGUGl-H-FDIVIDING MACHINE.

This inventlon relates to machines for subchvidlnga mass oilidough or similar material into :tractional parts,

The object or the invention. is the produotion of a machine by which the mass of dough will not be cut through leaving ex posed portions oi raw.douglnhut'will instead force the upper 'andlower shins olfthe dough together, and unite them so that each trac tional part of said divided Inass will be completely enveloped by a skin with no portionoi the raw dough eXposed,--this opera; tion dispensing with any necessity-at hand work on the: fractional partsprior to halting as is now the general practice.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of construction and arrange inent Off parts which will be readil understood upon reference to the description of the drawings and tothe claims hereinafter given.

Of the drawings: Figured represents an elevation of the machine embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 represents a verthe cutting plane represents a plan of thepan portion of said machine with the cover removed therefrom,

Fig. 4 IGPI'GSGDlTS a vertical section of the upper portion of said machine, the cutting plane being on line, 2-2 on Fig. l,'tl1e movable perforated bottom of the pan and the pioneers in the perforations thereof being shown in their normal positions after position to compress the mass having received a mass of dough indicated in said figure by dotted lines. Fig. 5 represents a similar view showing' the movable hottoin and plungers therein moved into a of dough against the cover at the receptacle. Fig. 6 represents an elevation of theioperating arin. Fig. 7 represents a sectional view of the [Specification of tettere Patent.

Patented dune & itdt to v,l'tpplication filed January 21, item. Eerial lac. 5393M.

upper portion oi one of the dividing members bctweentwo of the cylindrical openings insaid movable perhnated bottom; said figure being drawn to an enlarged scale, and

Fig. 8 represents an enlarged section of the movable perforated bottom, the cutting plane being on line 8-8 on Fig. @llllllitt characters designate. like parts throughout the several figures oi the drawings in the drawings, 10 represents a suitable traniewca'l; to the upper end of which is secured a perforated plate 11 having formed integrally therewith an upwardly extending flange 12 surrounding said perforation, and :torzning a suitable pan or receptacle for the reception ot the dough to be operated upon. The perforated plate 11 is also provided with ears 13 in which is mounted a pivot p n 1st passing through cars 15 formed "upon a cover 16- which provided with a pivoted locking member 1? adapted to engage a hooked lug on theupper face oi the plate 11. said locking member being preferably opnip; member 1'? is in engagement with the hooked log 18 as indicated in Figs. 2-, 4t and the upper end of the perforation or opening through the plate 11 is ell'ectuallv closed and capable of sustaining considerable pressure. lVhen the locking member i7 is dis engaged from the hooked log 18, the cover 16 will be thrown upwardly autoinaticallv into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, by means of the spring member 19 surrounding the pivot pin 14 having ends engaging the ears 15 on said cover l6, the other end engaging" the flange 12. When it desired to close the opening in the plate 11, the operator takes hold oi the handle 17 and moves the cover downwardly against the tension of the spring 19 and locks the cover in the position shown in full lines in Figs. 2, 4: and

Mounted in the opening ol'the plate 11 and accurately fitting, the walls thereof is a movable perforated bottom 20, in which the :erloralions 21 are cylindrical as indicated in lfiig. 3 of the drawings. The upper surface otthe divisional walls 22. between the various perforations 21 are inclined down- I wardly toward said perforations and the apex of said inclined surfaces is" slightly.

a plate 23 to which is secured a plurality of plungers 24, one for each of the perforations 21. This plate. 23 is secured to a vertical support 25 having a bearing at its lower end in the cross member 26 forming a part of the "frame 10. Intermediate the plate 23 and the cross member 26 the support 25 has pivoted thereto a link 27, the opposite end of which ispivoted at 28 to an arm 29 formed upon a hub 30 mountedupon and keyed to a sleeve 31 surrounding an oscillating shaft 32, this oscillating shaft having keyed thereto an operating arm 33.

The sleeve 31 is-revolubly mounted in a bearing 34 in one :side of'theframe 10 and forms a bearing for one end of the shaft 32,while the opposite end of said shaft 32 is mounted in a bearing 35 in the opposite side of said frame 10. Intermediate the bearing 35 and the'sleeve 31, the shaft 32 has keyed thereto a lever36 the outer end of which'is connected by means of a bifurcatedlink 37 with an annular member 38 surrounding the support 25. This annular member 38 has secured thereto a plurality of rods 39 extending upwardly through the plate 23 with their opposite ends permanently secured to the movable. bottom 20. It. is obvious therefore, that any recipro' eating movement of the annular member 38 will be transmitted through the rods 39 to' the movable bottom 20; and it is also obvious that any reciprocating movement imparted to the support 25 will be transmitted through the plate 23 to the plungers' 24 with- ,in the perforations 21 of said movable bottom 20. V

' The hub 30 is provided with a second arm 40 between the outer end of which and the lug 41 formed upon the frame 10 is interposed'a' spring 42 the tension of'which is adapted to move the support 25 and the plungers 24 upwardly against the dough within the pan, pressing themass of dough against the under face. of the cover 16. hen the cover 16 is in the posit-ion shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, there will be nothing to resist the further upward movement of theplungers 24, and the spring 42 will act upon said plungers through the medium of the lever 29, the link 27, supports 25, and plate 23 until the upper face of the collar 43 contacts with the under face of the cross bar 26, when the further upward movement of. the plungers will be prevented.

lVhcn the upper face of the collar 43 con-- tacts with the cross bar 26, the upper faces of the plungers 24 will be in the same plane as the upper face of the flange 12. The, support 25 is provided with a flange 44 which prevents the member 38 from being moved downwardlyon said support sufficient-ly to permit the upper face of the .by means of a pivoted handle 48 mounted upon the outer end of the operating arm 33 in the usual manner. The arm 33'is provided with a perforated lug 49 with which the hook 50 secured to the frame 10 is adapted to engage to retain the operating arm in elevated position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 when the machine is not in operation. This position of the operating arm 33 is its normal position, and when thus located the perforated'bottom 2O and the plungers 24 are in their lowest position as indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

Vhen the bottom 20 .and plungers 24 are in their lowest position the cover 16 is raised and a mass of dough placed upon said perinovable bottom 20 to'pass below the upper Y forated bottom and plungers and the cover is then shut down and looked as indicated in said figure. The operator then disengages the hook 50 from the perforated lug 49 and with the bolt 47 in engagement with the oted handle '48 anddisengages the bolt 47 from thenotch 46, the spring 42 retaining the plungers in position againstthe under face of the dough. Priorto theplacing of the dough in the'pan or receptacle it is manipulated by hand until its outer surface has formed thereon a tough skin enveloping the whole mass of raw dough, and the pressure applied thereto when the plungers and bottom are moved from the position shown in Fig. 4to the position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, acts thereon without effecting any break in said skin.

The operator having disengaged the bolt 47 from the notch 46 moves the opera-ting arm 33 into the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 1-, against the stop 51 formed upon the frame, 10,-this stop 51 limiting the upward movement of the perforated bottom so that its upper face never moves above the upper face of the flange 12, or in other words, when the cover 16 is closed as indicated in full lines in the drawings, the upper face of the perforated'movable bottom 20 comes into close contact with the under face of said cover 16 and can have no further movement, thus preventing any injury to the divisional walls thereof between the perforations 21 Owin to the nature of the upper faces of these divisional walls between th perforations 21, the dough is not cut and separated as the perforated bottom passes through the mass of dough,- but in lieu of this cutting, the under skin of themass of dough is pressed upwardly into contact with the upper skin of the dough and adheres thereto, thus enveloping each fractional part of said dough with a skin, thereby leaving no portion of the raw dough exposed. Owing to the inclines 52 on the upper face of the divisional walls 22, the

upper and lower skins are gradually crowd ed together and forced into the cylindrical perforations 21 and no separation between the fractional parts of the. dough occurs until the apex S3 of said divisional walls 33 comes into close contact with the under face of the cover 16. "When this has been accon1- plished, each perforation 21 contains a fractional part of said dough completely enveloped in a skin preventing any of the raw dough from being -exposed,said fractional parts being all of equal size and weight and of the same shape. v I

No machine as far as is known, is capable of subdividing-a mass of dough into a 1mm ber of fractional parts each one of which is enveloped in a skin, preventing any portion of the raw dough from being exposed, thus obviating any hand work after the frac tional parts have been delivered from the machine. The present machine is capable of securing this desirable result, as after the pressure has been applied to the dough and the bottom has been moved up through the same, substantially welding the under and upper skins together so that each fractional part is surrounded by a skin, each part is in condition to be slid into a baking pan and put into the oven without any further labor. The tnachine furthermore provides a means for sliding the fractional parts thus made from the machine directly into the pan without any unnecessary handling,for as soon as the perforated bottom has been pressed against the cover 16 and the mass of dough has been divided intofractional parts, the operator then has only to disengage the locking member 17 thus permitting the spring 19 to act upon the cover 16 to. throw it into its elevated position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, when the spring 42 will act upon the plungers 24 to raise them to a position with their upper faces in the same plane with the uppcrface of the per understood from the foregoing explanation.

Having thus described my invention, ll claim:

1. A dough dividing machine having, in combination, a dough receptacle for receiv- "ing a mass of raw dough enveloped by a tough skin, said receptacle having a flat wall, and means for sub-dividing the mass of dough into fractional parts each enveloped by a skin, including a relatively movable douglrdividing blade operating against said flat wall and having a comparatively broad operating face comprising two slightly inclined surfaces forming a very blunt apex or angle at their intersection, said slightly inclined surfaces acting to carry the skin in an unbroken condition from one side of the mass through the mass and into contaet'with the skin on the opposite side with which it is welded by the pressure of the blunt apex against the opposing lint wall before the mass of dough isseparated. into its fractional parts.

2. A- dough-dividing machine having, in combination, a dough receptacle for receiving a mass of raw dough enveloped by a tough skin, said receptacle having a flatwall, and means for suljidividing the mass of dough into fractional parts each enveloped by a skin, including a relatively movable dough dividing blade operating against said flat wall and having a comparatively broad operating face comprising two slightly inclined surfaces forming an apex or angle of about 150 at their intersection, said slightly inclined surfaces acting to carry the skin in an uubrolwu condition from one side of the mass through the mass and into contact with the skin in the opposite side with which it is welded by the }:)ressure of the blunt apex against the opposing flat wall before the mass of dough is separated into its fractional parts.

Mid

' 3. A dough-dividing; machine having, in

combination, a dough receptacle for receiving the mass of raw dough enveloped by a tough skin, and means for subdividing the.

surfaces forming a very blunt apex or angle at their intersection, said slightly inclined htly inclined I surfaces acting to carry the skin in an un- Signed by me at #4 Post Office Square,

broken condition from one side of the mass Boston, Mass, this 20th day of January,

through the mass and into Contact with the 1910. v skin on the opposite side with which it is JOHN M. BIERER. Welded by the pressure of the blunt apex Witnesses: against the opposite well before the mass of 'WALTnn E. LOMBARD.

' dough is separated into its fractional parts. I LUCY E. AREY- 

